the cypress and the sparrow

"You, the richest person in the World, have been laboring and struggling endlessly. Not knowing that..."

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 10:53:38 -0400

“You, the richest person in the World, have been laboring and struggling endlessly. Not knowing that you already posess all that you seek.”

- The Lotus Sutra (via lazyyogi)

Dear Moon, I believe in you. xo M

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 19:15:45 -0400

Dear Moon,

I believe in you.

xo M

Present Wanted

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 18:09:28 -0400

My week started off one of my favorite ways to start a week, unplanned. I skipped my yoga class with my yogi friend and we had a coffee and chat instead. Sometimes it is the little things, these breaks in the normal that keep us feeling in charge and alive. As we were sitting there together, talking about all the important things in life, careers, family, the universe and of course the strange creature that is boys. I realized something, something very obvious as these realizations tend to be, yet so profound.

I realized as she was talking that there is nowhere else I would rather be. Deeper then just with that particular friend in that particular coffee shop, although both were rather magical. I meant in the present itself. There was no place I would rather be. I have practiced for a long to focus on being present, to work on feeling and being grounded in my day to day. Today I found one of the keys I was missing, the willingness. I have worked hard on being able to stay in the present despite fighting my past and craving my future. It struck me today though, I wanted to be here. In this moment, I didn’t want to think about what had already been experienced and I didn’t want to imagine what was yet to come. I had so much to see, feel and learn in the present moment, I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

How easy it is to be present, when we want to be there. Making it no work at all. Just life.

I hope you are enjoying whatever your present is today, smile it’s your gift.

xo M

Shiny New Skin

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 18:52:00 -0400

I stepped to the side last week and took a little break. It was incredible timing too, the first week in September is something else. The city was all of sudden struck by this feeling that we have so much to do, we are out of time, and that everything is changing all at once. Maybe because it is, but either way, it doesn’t need to feel like that. We can take control of the only part we have a small amount of control over, not what is happening or how, when or even why. How we choose to feel about it though, that is always up to us.

My life like most of yours is changing all the time. Right now it is just particularly apparent. The good news is, that means everyone around me is shedding a skin as well, and although my skin did get rather comfortable. I know once everyone else is walking around in their shiny new coats, I will be praying for mine as well. That new coat, just like the old one will be equally comfortable in time. I just need to find a way to accept it and wear it proudly.

Enjoy your new skin Calgary, it fits you perfectly!

xo M

"You don’t feel it. You believe it."

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 15:18:14 -0400

“You don’t feel it. You believe it.”

- Dan Mohler (via favoredgrace)

August Sky

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 11:59:57 -0400

This morning I felt it, the inevitable change approaching here in Calgary. My morning seems to come just a little to early, the air a little to crisp and the sun a little to distant, just slightly out of reach. The fall approaches quick here, as the hair on the back of my neck rises with the anticipation. The last week of August begins. We will retire our grab an go shorts and t-shirts for back to school clothes and new fall work attires. Exchanging flip-flops for boots and tank tops for scarfs.

The feeling though, that unsettling feeling much deeper then the clothes we choose to wear. That feeling of change, the what now, what next, and where do we go from here. All seasons give way to change, but it is fall that seems to so openly permit it. However, I might be getting a little ahead of myself here, how about I write about the beauty of fall when fall is actually here. For today, for this week, what if we worry not about where we are heading and just recongnize where it is we are. Right here the last week of August, grab your flipflops, crack a beer, head back, heart open. Dream and enjoy the beauty and wonder that is sprawled loosely across our currently big blue August sky.

Dream blue my friends.

xo M

"Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is..."

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 13:00:04 -0400

““Silence is beautiful, not awkward. The human tendency to be afraid of something beautiful is awkward.””

- Elliott Kay (via thesublimeandridiculous)

Yet to Come

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 12:58:30 -0400

What to do with a wondering mind. We all have one at times, it works to take us to new places such as our potential future or hidden dreams. Mostly I think it tortures us, showing us the what could have and what might be. Keeping us away from the only moment that is occurring, taking us further and further from the only place in which we can make a difference or offer a change. That single present moment, happening right now.

I woke up this morning to a wondering mind. Signs of change I suppose, either way it will not run my day. So here I am, taking back the wondering and finding the now. This moment, this cup of coffee in front of me, this morning newspaper, this arriving client and this beautiful strange Wednesday afternoon. Just simply another day in the life.

I hope you enjoy your day party people! The rest is yet to come.

xo M

Thu, 31 May 2012 15:44:22 -0400

Watercolor/Oil pastel By Gretchen Del Rio

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 17:16:08 -0400

Watercolor/Oil pastel By Gretchen Del Rio

XLIII

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 16:45:25 -0400

Rather the flight of the bird passing and leaving no trace
Than creatures passing, leaving tracks on the ground.
The bird goes by and forgets, which is as it should be.
The creature, no longer there, and so, perfectly useless,
Shows it was there-also perfectly useless.

Remembering betrays Nature,
Because yesterday’s Nature is not Nature.
What’s past is nothing and remembering is not seeing.

Fly bird, fly away; teach me to disappear.

Alberto Caeiro (1879-1915), Portugal